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The acquisition of a new piano is always an exciting event, especially for an Arts Centre where many diverse activities take place. Examinations, Societies and Recitalists need a reliable instrument with a fine tone and responsive touch. Thanks to much effort, Riverside now possesses a Yamaha Grand. Money was raised via the Sunbury & Shepperton Arts Association who organised a number of fund-
Her programme opened with the Moments Musicaux of Schubert and impressed with a projected performance which gave poetry and strength to these much loved pieces, showing the piano to be capable of subtlety and wide dynamic range. The first half ended with an imperious reading of Mendelssohn’s first Prelude and Fugue – a revelation to those not familiar with these tributes to Bach, full as they are with the composer’s personal touches and vivid ideas.
Vanessa introduced both halves of the concert with a resumé of her life, with humorous skill, as Director of Keyboard Studies at the Royal College of Music, and as an examiner and adjudicator. Schumann’s Forest Scenes followed, each of the nine pieces being a picture of Nineteenth Century life in the forest. I particularly enjoyed her tonal and rhythmical characterisation of the fourth piece ‘The Sinister Place’ and her vitality in the faster movements. The programme ended with Chopin’s Op 12 Variations written in the fashion of the time but containing much that we could recognise as Chopin. A surprise encore was an ‘Indian Love Lyric’ by Amy Woodford-
Peter Croser
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Coffee Concerts 2010 Spring
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Clare Deniz (cello) and Rose Andresier (guitar) performed a delightful recital of music by Bach, Cimarosa, Mozart, Schubert and Albeniz. | |
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Lesley Shrigley Jones (cello) and Antony Saunders (piano) gave a highly enjoyable Romantic cello recital, featuring the music of Chopin. | |
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24 April |
Athena Scaperdas (soprano) accompanied by Christina Ward (piano) performed an impressive selection of Greek and European songs. |
This entrancing recital took us on a musical journey from England to France, on to Greece and then back to England again. Athena sang with a beautiful silvery tone throughout her recital and her diction was so clear that for the audience there was no need, in the English songs, to refer to the texts and translations provided.
The first three Purcell songs contained the famous Dido’s Lament from his opera, Dido & Aeneas, sung with great intensity and purity of line, and the fourth song ‘Twas within a Furlong of Edinborough Town’ displayed the rather more mischievous side to the composer’s character! The four songs by Fauré conveyed tenderness and emotion and, in Mandoline, exotic passion. Athena showed how much she was inside the expressionism of these pieces.
I doubt that any members of the audience would have ever heard before the three songs, based on Greek folksongs by Greek composer, Kalomiris, which Athena sang in her native language with conviction and intensity. The last one ‘Three Lissom Girls’ added a humorous touch. A set of three enchanting, well-
We had the pleasure of hearing Christina Ward at the pianoforte, not only for her radiant and sensitive accompaniments to the songs, but also in two solo items by Scriabin and Charles Williams.
Richard Black